Manchester teens turn detective; police get their man

Victor Rosario of Manchester describes how he helped track down a man and woman police said robbed a CVS in Manchester Monday. (MARK HAYWARD/UNION LEADER)

MANCHESTER - A Manchester teenager who walked in on a drug store holdup jumped in his car and tailed the culprit, giving police cell phone updates on the robber's location and even facing down the robber when the man drew a knife on him.

Victor Rosario, 19, said he felt like it was the right thing to do after he saw a masked man demanding money from a clerk at the 271 Mammoth Road CVS store early Monday morning.

So he went back to his car and followed the man as he jumped on a bicycle, peddled to a nearby getaway car on Oakland Avenue and took off onto Interstate 93 south.

"I was trying to do the right thing. My family told me to be careful about what I do," said Rosario, a student at Memorial High School.

Rosario said he followed the robber's car off Exit 5 in Derry, lost it, and was then startled when the man approached him and revealed a small knife hidden in his sleeve. "He told me 'Get out, I don't want you here.' I closed my window quick."

Within minutes, Derry police arrived and arrested Manchester resident Seth Skillin, 32, and charged him with robbery. They also arrested the driver of the car, Robbi O'Rourke, 24, on a robbery-related charge.

Police said they discovered $900 in cash hidden in Skillin's pants leg and underwear.

Meanwhile, Rosario's family is wondering what to think of the young man and his step-brother, Jonathan Tavares, 17. A passenger in Rosario's car, Tavares kept police apprised of the robber's whereabouts via 911.

Rosario's aunt, Irma Rosario, said her family is worried sick about what might happen to the two teens.

"You're not supposed to get in the middle because it's none of your business. For us, right now, he's not a hero," Irma Rosario said. She said Rosario's grandmother is crying, and his father is worried.

Rosario's mother said she thinks the two were crazy for following the car, but is not as worried.

"I never expected they would do anything like that," she said.

Rosario said he went to CVS to get a soda after he and Tavares had a late-night meal at a nearby McDonald's restaurant.

It was about 12:50 a.m. when the robbery was reported, police said.

Rosario said when he entered the store, the robber told him not to worry and to do whatever he was going to do in the store.

Police said the robber had an unknown object in his hands and had the clerk empty two cash registers.